Chapter 16. Romeo
Teaser Kuranosuke accidentally walks in on Tsukimi doing something embarrassing and they both freak out in different ways. Then comes the birth of a new idea. Summary Kuranosuke and Tsukimi stare at each other for a long moment. Tsukimi is incredibly embarassed and she finally turns and bolts for the window to get away from the awkwardness. Kuranosuke grabs her and pulls her back, shouting in alarm. They tumble and fall backward onto the floor. Tsukimi immediately scoots away and curls up into a ball under the sheet. Kuranosuke leaves. In the hall, he can feel his heart racing and discounts it as adrenaline from Tsukimi nearly jumping out the window. He joins the Amars for tea, talking casually, his heart still pounding hard the whole time. He eats quietly, but his heart doesn't stop. He pictures Tsukimi as he'd seen her when he walked into her room, twinges, and with some sliced yokan in his mouth, he falls out of his chair. The Amars immediatley rush to help, wondering if Kuranosuke is choking. Eyes closed, he manages to say that he's having chest pains. Mayaya calls for Chieko to get some Vicks Vaporub before she and Banba go running out the room to get it themselves. Kuranosuke is lost in his thoughts and discomfort. He keeps picturing Tsukimi under the sheet and wondering what's wrong with him. Even when he dated cute girls and got physical with them it never got to him like this. This should be impossible. Mayaya's loud shout causes Kuranosuke to open his eyes. He's on his back on the floor, Mayaya, Chieko, and Banba over him. Banba had just pulled down his shirt to give Mayaya skin to apply the medicine to, revealing his fake breasts. "Uh-oh. Not good."Princess Jellyfish manga Kodansha (2-in-1 Edition): Volume 3, Chapter 16, Page 107 Mayaya bursts into Tsukimi's room with the news. "Tsukimi, we've been tricked! We, out of the goodness of our hearts, tried to Vaporub her... but when we yanked down her top... she was wearing boob enhancers! She pretends to be all curves, but she's just a skinny, flat-chested woman with too much makeup!"Princess Jellyfish manga Kodansha (2-in-1 Edition): Volume 3, Chapter 16, Page 108 Tsukimi had become alarmed when Mayaya mentioned that they pulled down Kuranosuke's top, but relaxed when she saw that they still mistake him for a woman instead of a cross-dressing male. Shuu meets Inari at the bar, as she had blackmailed him to do. He arrives, unfriendly and business-like. She mocks him for not drinking, then claims while striking a pose that she didn't have any business-she just wanted to see him. Shuu turns away from her. That's when Inari flips open her phone and insists that he take her for a drive. Behind them, Sugimoto snaps pictures. Hanamori receives the phone call from Shuu requesting to be picked up and to go for a drive. Suspicious, Hanamori decided to call Sugimoto to find out of Shuu is with that woman. He sneezes as he goes into his call history for Sugimoto's number, and without realizing it, dials Shuu back. When Shuu answers Hanamori immediately launches into his questions on whether Shuu is with that woman and to be sure to get a picture if he is so that Koibuchi Sr. will stop pestering him. In the bar, Shuu turns around and looks directly at Sugimoto. Leaving Amamizukan, Kuranosuke berates himself for getting heart palpitations over an otaku girl. He wonders if she was playing princess in that sheet and cloth, and if that means he got her interested in clothes. If so, what would she think of his mother's closet? He slips into a memory of talking with his mother about all the dresses and the different parts of the world they came from. At her window, Tsukimi frets about having been seen in a tattered sheet pretending to be wearing a wedding dress by a Stylish male. She whacks her head against the window seat in self-revulsion and embarrassment. It's a good bump and she has to go seek an ice pack. Returning to her room, she's struck by the moonlight and goes to her window. She thinks about the wedding dress her mother might have made for her and feels that only someone with a body like Kuranosuke could wear such a dress, not her. Kuranosuke sees her from below and he calls out to her. He raises the cloth she'd worn on her head. It had fallen onto the bush when she'd tried to go out the window. Tsukimi tries to hide, but Kuranosuke asks her not to be embarrassed. Every girl does a one-woman fashion show from time to time. Tsukimi balks at that idea and shouts back the truth about her mother's words. The dual images of mothers and dresses inspires Kuranosuke and he calls out that they should do just that: make dresses like jellyfish and sell them in order to buy Amamizukan. Hanamori arrives to pick up Shuu and is surprised that Shuu is now asking to be driven home as quickly as possible. Inari decides she wants to tag along. Characters in Order of Appearance Quotes * Trivia * The chapter title comes from the world-renowned play by William Shakespeare written in the late 1500s. References Category:Manga Category:Volume 3